In this episode, I spoke with entrepreneur and writer Michael Ruiz. Michael has been a long-time Bitcoin proponent who raised concerns years ago about the lack of a Bitcoin circular economy and capture by large financial interests. When El Salvador made Bitcoin legal tender, Michael decided to visit and is now moving to the country while building multiple businesses. He shared this journey in detail during the episode.

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Timestamps:

(1:31) Michael's experience with El Salvador and what's happening on the ground

(4:23) El Salvador is attracting sovereign individuals

(7:29) How Michael's father moved to the US from Honduras for the American Dream and El Salvador is now trying to revive the American Dream

(9:00) Will other countries try to emulate the El Salvador model?

(14:31) Safety in El Salvador and Bukele's miraculous turnaround on crime

(18:45) Bitcoin adoption is not the BIG story in El Salvador yet - the crime turnaround is

(22:00) Why Bitcoin is being used less by regular people in El Salvador than you might expect

(27:45) Why it's psychologically hard to spend Bitcoin

(41:00) What type of Lightning wallets are people using to transact in El Salvador

(42:50) Bitcoin education in schools to create bottom up adoption

(48:00) Michael's businesses and how he's building in El Salvador

(54:00) Why Neil is interested in El Salvador

(1:00:30) How the visa situation works in El Salvador

Links and Resources

Bitcoin mining in Africa

El Salvador is the new Venice

Bitcoin is the new Venice

Allen Farrington

"Is Your Government Secretly Mining Bitcoin" - Adventure Capitalist podcast

Tucker Carlson interview with Nayib Bukele

Layered Money by Nik Bhatia

Outside The System episode with Nik Bhatia

Nakamoto Express

In this episode, I spoke with my good friend (and podcast co-host at Made You Think!) Nat Eliason. His book Crypto Confidential is about his journey into the world of crypto and is one of the best narrative non-fiction books I've ever read. We discussed Nat's crypto experience, his journey as a writer, fiction vs non-fiction, health, and of course went on many tangents.

If you enjoy this episode, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, and send a boost on Fountain!

Timestamps

(2:18) What motivated Nat to tell his crypto journey story in a raw way?

(7:30) What Harry Potter spells teach us about how to learn

(9:05) The difference between an outsider writing a crypto book vs an insider

(13:30) Overview of Nat's experiences that led to writing Crypto Confidential

(17:15) What made Nat stop playing in the crypto casino

(20:45) How luxury goods have held their value more than most crypto projects

(23:07) Why Crypto Confidential is not a warning to avoid getting caught up in manias but rather that you need to be careful if you do. The importance of going all-in.

(24:30) Why buying at the right time isn't the hard part. Selling at the right time is the hard thing.

(32:00) Hacking smart contracts and common mistakes. How Nat lost $30,000 while eating dinner

(43:45) Recapping the NFT hype cycle and the future of NFTs

(49:25) The pain of unclear tax rules in crypto

(1:02:03) Science illiteracy in the health influencer space

(1:08:00) The sleeplessness of crypto vs sleeplessness of having a newborn

(1:11:50) Studying fiction storytelling techniques to improve non-fiction writing

(1:23:00) The advantage of working with a traditional publisher

Links and Resources

Order Crypto Confidential on Amazon

Nat's blog

Nat's Twitter

Made You Think podcast

Harry Potter and the Secret to Learning blog post

The Smartest Guys In The Room (about the Enron scandal)

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

Bitcoin's past infinite printing hacks

In this episode, I spoke with Kris Newby, the author of Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons. You may be skeptical about the premise of this book but I promise there is a lot more here than a baseless conspiracy theory. Kris has top tier technical credentials and spent a large chunk of her career at Stanford. Much of her book is based on primary research, which involved Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and interviews with individuals directly involved in the biological weapons program. Most importantly, her work shows that the tragedy of Lyme disease in our medical system isn't some movie-like conspiracy but instead, mostly made up of good people operating under bad incentives. I've linked to a lot of material in the show notes so check those out if you're inclined to dig deeper.

If you enjoy this episode, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, and send a boost on Fountain!

Timestamps

(2:25) How Kris and her family were personally affected by Lyme Disease

(8:30) Overview of Lyme Disease

(10:30) Willy Burgdorfer and his connection with Lyme Disease

(17:26) How the US bug-borne weapons program came about and what they worked on

(25:00) The misaligned incentives in government funding that create opportunity for self-inflicted harmful experiments

(32:00) The strange circumstances surrounding "The Swiss Agent"

(36:58) How a change in patent law complicated the treatment of Lyme Disease

(39:05) Lyme Disease as the prequel to COVID-19

(41:05) Science, especially in Lyme Disease, is a small club that doesn't encourage thinking outside of the established paradigm. Similarities to Alzheimer's Disease research.

(45:54) How the incentive structure of the medical-industrial complex discourages simple treatments. Similarities to COVID-19 vaccination incentive vs possible treatments.

(49:44) The incentive structure that encourages the denial of chronic disease and even penalizes physicians who come up with effective treatments using cheap antibiotics

(52:04) The suppression of Bitten by NIH and other influential groups

Links and Resources

The Bitten Files - Substack

Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons

Project 112 - Wiki

Plum Island

Willy Burgdorfer

The Swiss Agent

Lyme Disease Cabal Primary Research Document Cloud (Part 1)

Lyme Disease Cabal Primary Research Document Cloud (Part 2)

Under Our Skin (documentary)

Kris Newby website

Cat Scratch Disease article

Lead Poisoning article

Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic by Pam Weintraub